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Chicago • Dwyane Wade got the ball in the corner, took a dribble to his left and stepped back for the dagger 3-pointer.

He made a throat slashing gesture with his right hand after the ball swished through the net and started jumping around as the crowd roared.

Wade scored 22 points in a triumphant Chicago debut, Jimmy Butler had 24 and the Bulls won their season opener, beating the Boston Celtics 105-99 on Thursday night.

Wade hit the clinching 3 with 26.3 seconds left. Taj Gibson added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the new-look Bulls got off to a winning start after missing the playoffs last season for the first time since 2008.

"To be able to make a shot like that and helps us get this win, it's like the perfect storm," Wade said.

Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 25 points. Avery Bradley had 16, and Jae Crowder 14 points, but the Celtics came up short after opening with a win over Brooklyn the previous night.

"We lost the game in a fashion we didn't want to lose," Crowder said. "I feel like we got punked all night."

The Bulls remade their roster in the offseason, jettisoning one hometown superstar and welcoming another when they traded Derrick Rose to New York and signed Wade to a two-year deal worth about $47 million in a move that stunned Miami.

The three-time NBA champion and 12-time All-Star is off to a good start with the Bulls after 13 seasons with the Heat. Wade hit 4 of 6 3-pointers in this game after making just 7 of 44 all of last season.

Rajon Rondo, signed by Chicago after a resurgent season with Sacramento, added nine assists. Butler had seven rebounds, and the Bulls pounded the Celtics on the glass 55-36.

They showed a scrappiness and edge that was missing last season. They were unselfish, passing the ball around, and hit 11 of 25 3-pointers.

"I think everybody's having fun out there," Butler said.

Hawks 114, Wizards 99 • In Atlanta, Dwight Howard was everything the Hawks were hoping for in his hometown debut.

Tim Hardaway Jr. in a starring role?

That was a major surprise.

Hardaway scored 21 points and ignited a fourth-quarter outburst that carried new-look Atlanta to a victory over Washington in the season opener Thursday night.

Howard, who returned to the city where he grew up in the Hawks' biggest offseason move, did nothing to disappoint. He grabbed 19 rebounds — more than anyone had for Atlanta all of last season — and was a huge presence at the defensive end, disrupting shots and giving his teammates the freedom to be more aggressive on the perimeter.

"The worst thing you can do is lay an egg in the first game," said Howard, who also had 11 points and three blocks. "I think all of us were a little nervous in the first half because we want to do so well. We really want put on for this city. ... Once we kind of settled in, kind of got our feet wet, we took it to another level."

Paul Millsap, for one, didn't have to spend so much time banging on the boards. He took advantage at the offensive end, leading the Hawks with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting.

But Hardaway was the one who really came up big, which was totally unexpected given that he was largely confined to the bench and even spent time in the D-League during his first season with the Hawks.

"It's definitely a new page, a new start," Hardaway said. "But (last season) will always be the intro to me in Atlanta. That will always be in the back of my head, how they pushed me, how they got me prepared to get to this point in my career."

Hardaway scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers that helped Atlanta pull away, and wound up matching his best showing in a Hawks uniform. Thabo Sefolosha was another key contributor off the bench, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter.

The Hawks, who led only 81-80 heading to the final period, outscored the Wizards 33-19 over the final 12 minutes.

Markieff Morris led Washington with 22 points, but it was a tough night for the Wizards' dynamic backcourt duo. John Wall finished with only 12 points on 3-of-15 shooting, while Bradley Beal was held to 13 in the debut for new Washington coach Scott Brooks.

"We got a lot of good looks. Some went down, some didn't," Beal said. "But at the end of the day, we can't control our offense. We can control our defense and our effort. We just gave up the last quarter and a half."